Better Late Then Never

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I don't understand all of these positive reviews. All the reasons given for this being a good film are exactly why I think this movie stinks. Arch Hall Jr. not only is a horrible actor, he is a horrible looking actor. Not entertaining, not suspenseful, not compelling, just a really, really, really bad piece of cinematic garbage.

This was a good movie. I just learned that this film is loosely based on the real life teenage killer Charles Starkweather and his 13 year old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. 'The Sadist' is very creepy thriller film.About the film: Charles A. 'Charlie' Tibbs (Arch Hall Jr.) is a murderous delinquent aided by his juvenile girlfriend Judy Bradshaw (Marilyn Manning). Charles and Judy are on the run after killing several people. Our story focuses on the murderous duo and how they held three innocent people hostage (killing two of them).I must say I despised Charles and Judy from the time we are introduced to them until the end of the film. I'm sorry I wanted these two murderers bumped off right from the get-go. They are irritating and obnoxious - in particular Charles! All I can say the film is good, thrilling but had me talking to the screen at the innocent characters - "No don't do that!" "Do this instead." lol. Yes it is that type of film - you want the innocent to survive and the "bad guys" dead.8.5/10

1st watched 7/26/2014 -- 3 out of 10(Dir-James Landis): Unwielding sadistic thriller for it's time -- even though that's really all it has going for it. The story is about three teachers who have car trouble on the way to a baseball game and pull into a car parts and repair shop on a Sunday hoping to get some assistance. They soon find out there is no-one around except two crazy young kids who threaten them at gunpoint to fix their car and let them use it. The male counterpart is a slick looking weird sounding crazy person, played by Arch Hall Jr., who we find out later has some experience in murdering other folk, and the couple is on the run for those murders. The movie could have been better if they explored a little deeper the evil character's reasoning for what they were doing but this never really happens. They start tinkering a little bit with a "survival of the fittest" mentality when the first teacher is killed and the other two are given a chance to take his place but do not offer. If these ideas were explored it would have made for a twilight-zone like experience. Instead the goofy aspects of the main evil character become centerstage and the movie relentlessly keeps going longer than movies in the early 60's usually take us. It's also kind of un-nerving to view the victims plodding through their thinking process about how to escape when you'd think that their survival instincts would just kick in. This is an interesting attempt at a genre that is overused nowadays -- but this was new for it's time -- but it just doesn't quite hit the mark.

Believed to be the first film production inspired by real-life killers Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, the low budget effort "The Sadist" is a fine example of its kind: tense, affecting, sweat-inducing, and very well acted. Writer & director James Landis creates palpable suspense, and with the assistance of a capable crew (including cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond), gets a lot of use out of their desolate settings. This is one film that looks very good in black & white. One genuinely gets involved with these characters; our protagonists are all sympathetic and our antagonist is one hell of a dangerous psycho.Three schoolteachers - Ed Stiles (Richard Alden), Carl Oliver (Don Russell), and Doris Page (Helen Hovey) - are on their way to a ball game when car troubles force them to pull into an isolated service station. Nobody seems to be around - that is, until Charlie Tibbs (Arch Hall Jr.) shows up, with his girlfriend Judy Bradshaw (Marilyn Manning) in tow. Charlie, feeling empowered by the gun he wields, enjoys dominating and intimidating the helpless trio. With little hope of any Cavalry riding to their rescue, they must rely on their wits to survive this situation.Hall Jr. doesn't just dominate his victims, he dominates the whole movie, in an endlessly amusing and disconcerting performance, as he mugs, sneers, and hisses his dialogue, while also giggling in a manner inspired by Richard Widmark in "Kiss of Death". You wonder how Ed, Carl, and Doris are ever going to get out of this, and you do feel for them. Russell has one particularly distressing scene where he begs for his life, as Charlie has imposed a time limit on him. Ed is clearly the one person who stands the best chance of taking Charlie on should he drop his guard, or the gun, but he doesn't see an opening. Lovely Hovey (Hall Jr.'s real life cousin, in her only movie appearance) is good, but the slinky Manning is just as watchable, not having very much in the way of spoken dialogue but often whispering ideas to Hall Jr., encouraging him with childlike glee.Directed with great efficiency by Landis, "The Sadist" has an incredible atmosphere and you can really see the sweat on peoples' foreheads here. You keep waiting and waiting for Charlie to get his comeuppance, resulting in a rather unexpected denouement.Eight out of 10.